...Now What?

52 weeks ago I sat down and wrote the first F5 Brotherhood newsletter.

I didn't know if I'd make it to issue 5, let alone issue 52. But here we are - one full year, 52 issues, all of it written for one kind of man.

The kind who's trying.

Before we look ahead, I want to look back. Not just because there's something in the data (although there is that), but because this moment in time offers an opportunity to review.

What’s my number one takeaway from writing these? What’s your number one takeaway from reading them?

⚡️ F5 Fast Files - Short Summary

✍️ The Origin

About a year ago, Jared Ellsworth challenged me to 10x my life.

I prayed about it. I sat with it. And eventually, one clear line came to me:

"Be a writer."

I didn't fully understand what that meant. I just knew it was the answer. After kicking around a few ideas — this newsletter was born.

No strategy. No audience research. No "how to grow a newsletter" course. Just a commitment to publish once a week and figure it out as we went.

What?

It hasn't always been pretty. Some of these newsletters got written days in advance. Others got written on late Tuesday nights, or even required an extra early alarm on Wednesday morning. More than once I stared at a blank screen wondering if I had anything left to say.

But we showed up. Every week. We did what we said we would.

That's the whole lesson. Not a writing class or a book on audience engagement. Just the same old principle:

"The only thing that is doing the thing, is doing the thing."

I wrote about this before — when I was learning to run a skid steer for the first time. The only advice the tutorial gave me was: "It just takes time in the seat." I thought it was a cop-out. Turns out it was the whole truth. Issue #24 — Tuition Is Due

52 newsletters later? Same lesson applies.

You don't get better at writing by studying writing. You get better by writing — badly, then less badly, then occasionally saying something that makes a man stop and re-read a paragraph.

🖩 By The Numbers

Here's what one year of F5 looks like numerically.

The writing:

Top 3 most-read issues:

Pushing through hard things. Refusing the shortcut. Giving yourself permission to actually enjoy your life. Not just what I chose to write, but what you chose to open.

I ran a full theme breakdown across every issue. Here's what F5 has actually been about — ranked by how often each theme showed up:

🫵 Not me, YOU!

I've been writing what feels right to me. But this newsletter exists for you.

So I want to ask directly — what do you want more of in Year Two of F5?

Reply to this email and tell me. Seriously — I read every reply.

One reply shapes the next 52 issues. That's the power you hold as a reader.

🔥 The Why

52 letters. ~34,000 words. One full year.

None of that matters as much as this:

At least once, something in one of these issues hit you in the right moment. At least once, a line landed when you needed it. At least once, a Wednesday morning felt a little different because of something you read.

That's the whole ‘Why’.

And we're just getting started.

See you next week for Year Two.

Justin

F5 Brotherhood

P.S. — If F5 has meant something to you this year, forward this issue to one man who needs it. That's how this grows. That's how more men find their way in.

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